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East of Liberty—Communities Without

In the fourth installment of his East of Liberty series, Chris Ivey explores the cultural shift in East Liberty as the storied Shadow Lounge closes its doors and ends an era in the neighborhood.

East of Liberty—Communities Without, is the fourth and maybe final film in the East of Liberty documentary series. Like the films before it in the series, Communities Without will address issues of race, class and gentrification as we begin to bring the documentary series to a close. Featured interviews will include displaced residents from the first chapter, A Story of Good Intentions, returning to live in new housing, East Liberty homeowners and the management and staff of the recently closed Shadow Lounge club. The Shadow Lounge, together with it’s other bar business, AVA was considered by many the key cultural shift in East Liberty starting back in 2000 and has been featured in each chapter of the documentary series.

The first film was groundbreaking for Pittsburgh for it’s controversial and open approach to dialogue regarding race, class and gentrification. For some, the film was considered a bitter reminder of addressing the addressed and used as a tool in showing the different yet equal sides of true community redevelopment.

The film series stands alone for its unique and blunt way of tackling subjects considered taboo but necessary in understanding the nature of decision-making that affects many lives and consequences. The East of Liberty series is used as an educational tool today in most Pittsburgh area colleges and universities and has been acquired by many educational institutes nationwide.

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The Hive Learning Network supports connected learning experiences in the Greater Pittsburgh region that help prepare tweens, teens, and young adults for college, the workforce, and civic participation.

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